Three black witches, born to a descending queen. One would rise to become queen in her place. Perhaps the strongest of the three. Perhaps the cleverest. Or perhaps it would be the girl born under the best shield of luck.

Katharine, Arsinoe and Mirabella – three young queens born to fulfil their destiny – to fight to the death to win the crown. But before they were poisoner, elemental and naturalist, they were children, sisters and friends . . .Goodreads.com

While impatiently awaiting the third book in this series, this short novella satisfied me for the moment. It offers the reader keen insight on the backstory of not only the three queens, but many other characters and fills in some blanks about certain motivations and occurrences in Three Dark Crowns and One Dark Throne.

If you’re a fan of dark fantasy, complex characters, and stellar world-building, I can’t recommend this series enough, but must stress that this novella shouldn’t be read before the first two books if you want to avoid spoilers.